The Advantages of Being a Mouse
by FawkesFyre
Summary: While Draco is out gathering potions ingretients in the Forbidden Forest one fateful night after eavesdropping in the Gryffindor common room, Hedwig gets peckish and scopes Draco- a mouse animagus- out. It's up to Harry to save him! HarryxDraco Slash


Draco scurried through the underbrush of the Forbidden Forest, nose twitching. He hopped up onto a fallen branch and sat up on his haunches, sniffing around. There! Jumping down, Draco bounced over to a little pile of mushrooms, growing so close together they were almost one plant. _Finally, I can grab some of this and go take a shower,_ Draco thought, and pulled the cap off a few of the miniscule fungi with his little claws. As he worked, Draco thought about what he'd learned today. Being small had its advantages, like being unnoticed as you sit in the Gryffindor common room trying to find where Potter kept his quidditch plays. Hey, Slytherin needed to win, and they _were_ underhanded.

But rustling through the drifts of parchment in Harry's trunk wasn't what Draco was thinking about. He was remembering the conversation he'd overheard; Potter talking to the Weasel. Apparently, Draco had turned Potter_ gay._ Well, not exactly, Weasley had asked Potter if he was lying when the two opened the door and Potter had replied 'No, if Malfoy wouldn't squeal to the _Prophet_ I would totally bugger the bastard', but that's beside the point. The idea was completely foreign to Draco, but the longer he thought about it, the more he agreed with Potter. The boy was _hot. _Draco scratched the mushroom in his paws contemplatively.

Suddenly, the shadows on the forest floor cast by the moon seemed deeper, more menacing, and Draco dropped the caps and looked around nervously. _OH BOLLOCKS—_he thought, letting out a pathetic little squeal, and dove for cover. The snowy white owl was too quick for him though, and he squealed again as the talons drug his blood through his white fur.

He felt himself morph back from his mouse form just before the blackness swallowed his vision, felt the blood running hot over his skin, felt the wind blustering around him as the owl fought to stay upright as Draco grew in its claws._ Bloody owls trying to eat me…_ Draco passed out, slumped over against the log he'd previously sat on.

oOoOoOoOo

Harry woke to the screech of talons against his window. He blinked and fumbled around on his bedside table for his glasses, trying to orient himself in the dark room.

"Hedwig, what in the name of Merlin are you doing?" he muttered, and dragged himself over to open the window.

"What's gotten into you?" he said, slightly more awake. Hedwig was unusually frantic, not landing anywhere but flying doggedly around the room with wide eyes. Harry grew even more concerned when he saw the blood glistening on her claws.

"Miss a meal?" He said, and Hedwig flew back and forth at the door. "Coming, coming…" Harry grabbed his wand and threw on his invisibility cloak, leaving his head visible for Hedwig. As soon as he opened the door Hedwig was zooming away, and Harry had to run to keep up. Down through the common room, down past the Great Hall, through the main corridor. She paused at the doors, fluttering madly. Harry opened those too, and immediately wished he'd thrown on a pajama shirt as well as his cloak. It was _chilly_ out there.

"Hedwig, where are you _going?"_ Harry yelled at her retreating form. She cast a shadow on the dewey grass, sliding through the night air, but Harry was nowhere near as graceful- he slipped on the grass more times than he could count. Hedwig disappeared into the Forbidden Forest, and Harry followed without a thought. _They really should rename this to the Forbidden to people who listen to the rules Forest. People come in here all the bloody time, _Harry thought, and wove through branches after his owl.

oOoOoOoOo

Draco came to sometime later, and immediately wished he hadn't. He had the biggest headache known to widardkind, his bones ached with cold, and he could still feel the blood sliding across his skin. He tried to groan, but no sound came out. He shut his eyes again in defeat.

oOoOoOoOo

"What the fuck, _Malfoy?_ What are you doing out here… Hey, Malfoy? Draco?" Harry's pounding feet came to a stuttering halt in front of the boy, who hadn't moved with Harry's approach. Harry knelt down next to him and touched his shoulder; maybe he was asleep? _Yeah, in the middle of the forest. He may be a git, but he's not bloody _stupid. Harry thought. Hedwig finally stopped, sat on a branch a few feet up, and started cleaning her talons. _The blood…_ Harry remembered, and looked back at Malfoy.

Sure enough, Harry could see the shine of it covering the boy's clothes. There were the main wounds, along the back of his ribcage, and little brushes of it other places along his back. _And to think I was wishing Malfoy would let me fuck him this morning…_

"Of all the…" Harry started, then realized his rant would go unheard, and started thinking of a plan. Malfoy obviously wasn't conscious, or he would be complaining. Harry touched his shoulder again, realizing he must be freezing. Harry had his cloak, and _he _was cold. _Okay,_ he thought. _Here goes._

oOoOoOoOo

Draco surfaced a second time, but because he was warm. And in excruciating pain. He pried his eyelids open to see a hazy vision of another boy, with the trees and the moon behind his head. The warmth was everywhere now; Draco realized belatedly that the boy had picked him up like a bride, and Draco was pressed against the other boy's bare chest. He tilted his head closer.

"Draco? Draco, I cast a featherweight charm on you and I'm gonna bring you back to Hogwarts now, okay? To Madame Pomfrey, so she can figure out how to fix you. Malfoy, you've got to stay with me. Try to keep your eyes open, yeah?" he heard. _Yeah, okay, I'll try…_Draco thought. The boy's jostling hold on Draco sent lances of pain through his sides, but it was okay, Draco would forgive him, because it kept him awake. And somebody had told him he needed to be awake for… something, he just needed to see. Keep his eyes open, that was it.

Draco's vision swam, the noises he heard made no sense, branches rubbed across his skin and burned him, but the boy's voice kept on and Draco fought to keep looking at his face, at those green eyes…

oOoOoOoOo

"Madame Pomfrey! Pomfrey, where are you?" Harry yelled as he kicked open the door to the infirmary with his booted foot. Harry hurried over to a cot and deposited Draco on it, canceling the charm and feeling rather helpless.

"Draco, stay with me now, Pomfrey's going to fix you, okay?" He murmured into Malfoy's ear hurriedly. Draco had started to fade on the way through the grounds up to the castle, and Harry thought that allowing him to feint again would be a bad idea.

"Harry! What's all the fuss?" Pomfrey, still in her dressing gown, bustled out of a side room.

"He was in the woods, Hedwig found him or something, and he's bleeding. I bought him back here-" the mediwitch cut Harry off, gently nudging him aside to tend to Draco. Harry stood on, watching the witch wave her wand and administer potions in quick succession. Hedwig hooted from the rafters.

oOoOoOoOo

Draco blinked his eyes open, vision finally clear, in the early morning sunlight streaming in through the windows. He turned his head when a blustery sigh broke the silence, and was surprised to see Potter sitting backwards on a chair, arms crossed over the back, looking extremely relieved.

"I'm in the infirmary." Draco said in a raspy voice. Harry nodded.

"You brought me here." Draco assumed, and again, Harry nodded.

"You… your ruddy owl attacked me!" He couldn't muster the energy to put any malice behind the accusation. Harry had the good grace to appear confused. He tilted his head and said,

"Why would she do that?"

"I was in the forest collecting potions ingredients, as a mouse, and your smarmy hellbird-"

"As a mouse?" Damn. Apparently Draco's mental faculties were still asleep.

"Er, no."

"You're a mouse animagus then?" Harry asked, a slight smile on his face. "Good on you! Oh, then that's why there was blood on Hedwig too. And she probably beat it around with her wings." He mused. "Can you really blame her for attacking you? I bet you're white, easy to see in the dark."

Draco didn't say anything, but sat up and felt himself out for injuries. Madame Pomfrey had done a good job; he hardly felt a twinge.

"Oh, Pomfrey said you can leave when you wake up. Just that she's in bed, because 'a hysterical Potter woke me up in the middle of the night and I need sleep'. So you're free."

"You were hysterical?"

"Well, yeah, I mean, you were barely conscious and bleeding everywhere…" Potter rubbed the back of his neck.

"Aww, Potty! Is that _worry_ for me I hear?" Draco teased, and stood. Harry unfolded himself from his chair as well, and Draco realized he was wearing his pajama pants and little else.

"Where are your cloths, Potter?"

"Oh, er, in my room? This is what I was wearing when Hedwig came to get me."

"I see." _He must have slept in the infirmary. Because of _me_. _Draco thought, warming slightly to the idea. Examining the lightly tanned and toned chest in front of him, Draco said,

"You know, I wouldn't go running off to the _Prophet_ if you were to do anything… untoward to me at all," and brushed past Harry and out of the infirmary. Draco was glad they'd stopped that immature tomfoolery, else that subtle brush would have been met with a curse.

oOoOo

Harry stood there stunned for a moment, staring into space, before whirling and catching the infirmary door on the backswing and leaving as well. He caught Draco from behind, wrapping his arms around the slim form, and said,

"Really. And, pray tell, how would you know that I think you would?"

"Being a mouse has more uses than collecting potions ingredients."

oOoOo

"Ah." Harry said into Draco's ear, tightening his grip on the boy. "And you would not be opposed if I were to pull you into, say, that niche there and kiss you?" Harry said in an unaffected voice.

"I can't say that I would, no," Draco answered in the same tone, and he suddenly found himself in the aforementioned alcove with his back against the wall and Potter's face inches from his own. _Finally,_ Draco thought, and pressed his lips against Harry's. He answered with enthusiasm, all tongue and heat, and Draco loved the unrestrained passion Harry exuded that Slytherins were rarely capable of. Draco moaned into the kiss and closed his eyes, his arms trailing around Harry's ribs to press against his back. After a wonderful moment, Harry pulled back and started to speak, his lips brushing Draco's with each word.

"And would you be opposed if I were to suggest another venue for our kisses? Perhaps with a bed?"

"I would most likely tell you that I have my own room in the Slytherin commons," Draco whispered back, and Harry's feline smirk made Draco groan.

"Well then," Harry said, and pulled away from Draco to yank him down the corridor. Draco hardly had time to gasp out the password in time for Harry to avoid running into the portrait, and Draco thanked Salazar that his little stint to the infirmary meant that everyone else was in class at the moment, leaving the common room blissfully empty.

"Which door, Draco?" His name on Harry's lips made Draco tremble, and he pointed down a hall.

"Second to last door on the left," he muttered, and smiled into Harry's chest as he was manhandled down the hallway. "Pushy, pushy," he said, but waved his wand at his door to unlock it anyway. Harry just smiled that feline smirk of his.

Pretty soon, there was a drop in clothing and an abundance of heat in Draco's room. Harry had Draco pinned to his bed, both his hands pressed to the pillows above his head by one of Harry's. His mouth was being ravished by the Golden boy, and Draco couldn't help bucking his hips up into Harry's to hear that addicting groan come from him again. Harry rutted against him, supporting his body on his one free hand, but Draco struggled against Harry's grip.

"I want to feel you," he complained, and Harry relented and released his hands. They roamed down over Harry's shoulders to his back, and pressed down for leverage as he thrust up against Harry. The waves of pleasure washed over him, and he pulled away from Harry's mouth to gasp in a breath and toss his head back. He groaned again as Harry licked up his throat, and his motions became jerkier. Harry was grunting above him, sliding his lower body against Draco's, lining their cocks up again and again, and it was just too much; Draco came in a searing blaze of sensation, crying out and digging his fingers into the small of Harry's back.

He felt Harry's release between them as well, and the boy collapsed on top of him, spent. Draco sighed in contentment, running his fingers up and down Harry's skin. Harry nuzzled into the nook under Draco's chin, and Draco could feel his smile.

"No _Prophet_ running, mkay?" he mumbled, and Draco grinned.

"Okay," he said, and the boys drifted to sleep. Yes, being a mouse animagus had more benefits than picking potions ingredients, indeed.

**Author's note:** Overused idea? Check. Abrupt ending? Of course. Still posting it? You bet ;)


End file.
